Shinobi Outsiders
by K Arieus
Summary: When you're not from Konoha, the Village Hidden in Leaves can be pretty intimidating. Not only do you have to show everyone what you can do, but you've got to deal with rogue shinobi, deadly samurai, and many buried secrets. If you're on Team 4, anyway.
1. Chapter 1

Meikou Jigane lay on his back, his hands folded behind his head. Around him, the soft grass rippled in the wind, like some sort of deep-green ocean. He sighed as he watched the blades dance lightly, uncertain why he was even out here. It wasn't as if he enjoyed the peace and tranquility that the hilltop provided. In fact, he hated this place.

Jigane stood, his steel-grey eyes scanning the small valley below. Konoha. He'd detested this place since his family moved here from the Hidden Village of the Rock some time ago. He'd been six then, and could still remember the smell, and taste, of his home. The deep, earthy scent invigorated him, led him to believe he could do anything. Then it had been ripped away.

His parents still stayed silent on the matter, about why they had moved in the first place. Jigane suspected it had something to do with the fact that his parents had done something to anger the Kage. He frowned, as it mattered not. He was still an academy student; what could he possibly do? His gaze lifted from the grassy fields below, to the clear, open sky above.

Footsteps made their presence known behind him, but Jigane didn't even bother to turn around. He'd have recognized the footfalls anywhere, as they were the same as his own. Just as they had been for all eleven years of his life. Turning, he saw his twin, Dakuro, looking at him with the same grey eyes that his family held. "Hey. Mom's worried about you. Come back inside, will ya?"

Jigane said nothing at first, his gaze unflinching from his brother's. "And father?" he finally asked, the words coming out like acid.

Dakuro grimaced, his eyes looking away. "Y-you know how dad is. He's keeping mainly to himself and-" he began, his words coming slowly, as if chosen with great care.

"And what? Keeping quiet since you're not involved? We both know you're the favorite, so don't try and pull that with me. Just keep it straight." Jigane moved briskly past his brother, who turned, words on the edge of his tongue. Yet Dakuro kept quiet, knowing there was nothing that could be said to pacify Jigane. With a groan, he knew that his twin wasn't going to go home, and knew the anger he'd incur from both his parents.

Jigane snarled under his breath as he walked, his anger rising. While the two of them had been born twins, only Dakuro had been graced with their bloodline. Jigane, having no such talent, was immediately decided to be the weaker of the twins, and was often in poor favor with his father because of this. He paused, reaching up behind his back, where his hand found the hilt of a sword. This was the true reason his mother wanted him home.

He was certain she was worried about him on some level, but the blade was a family heirloom. It was to be his upon his reaching of the Chuunin rank, but as he was still young, she feared its loss. Possibly more than the loss of Jigane. He pulled upward lightly, the blade easily emerging forth from its sheath. Flipping it over his hands, as he'd done time and time again, he sought to become one with it, wanting it to become nothing more than an extension of his own body. Such was his desire, and it did not fade as the sun slowly began to set. Only when there was no light left to see, did the young boy return home, weary and exhausted.

* * *

"...I made the selections so that each cell's abilities would be approximately equal," Iruka-sensei said, earning a great deal of flabbergasted looks from the students, and many confused cries. Jigane wasn't certain why, as it wouldn't make any sense for there to be a cell that was far stronger than any of the others. With a groan, he lay his head down on the table, waiting for his name to be called.

"And cell number four. Meikou Jigane, Meikou Dakuro, and Shinkirou Touketsu. Next, cell five..." Jigane looked up, glancing across the way at his twin, sharing a grin. They had their differences, but the two of them worked well as a pair. Now, they just added a third. The young boy glanced around, looking for Touketsu. He remembered hearing her name before, but couldn't quite put his finger on where.

"Um, I'm right here," came a voice from his right. Jigane turned, trying not to look embarrassed at his lack of knowledge. The girl sitting next to him was apparently Touketsu. She was dressed in an array of blues and whites, contrasting much with Jigane's own blacks and greys. Even her hair, which was the color of raven's feathers, had strips of icy blue within it. "Are you Jigane, or Dakuro? I'm kinda new, so I can't tell the two of you apart."

The Meikou boy let a light smile cross his face, as even though he and Dakuro were twins, their style of dress was quite different. "I'm Jigane," he offered, nodding to her. It was the best he could do, under the circumstances. "He's Dakuro," he said, pointing just off to his left, where his twin had come over to meet the third member of their cell. "We're pretty easy to tell apart, once you focus on outfits, rather than faces."

Dakuro nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, that's pretty true. So Tou-chan, you just moved here recently, didn't you? Earlier this year, I think." She nodded, and the three of them broke down into small talk for a few minutes, getting to know each other a little better. Then Iruka cut through the chatter, informing them all that tomorrow they would get to meet their Sensei, a Jounin-level ninja.

Class ended soon after, and the three split up, each going their own way. Jigane left his brother behind, going toward his house. He knew that Dakuro would be going to where their father was in order to work on his bloodline. Which left Jigane alone to do as he pleased, as their mother wasn't due back for some time. And since the sword that the young boy often trained with was his for the day, he planned on using every minute he could muster in trying to learn how to use it just a little better.

However, upon entering the house, he found his father at the table, sipping tea. "Father..." Jigane aid, too stunned to do much else. He hastily took off his shoes, bowing to his elder before moving to where the sword was kept. Jigane knew that his father didn't really mind his use of it, as so far the weapon had come back undamaged each time. As long as that trend continued, he doubted he'd hear a word of resistance from his father.

"Jigane, stop." The boy froze in place, slowly turning to face his father.

"Y, yes?" he asked, confused. Though Jigane wasn't really frightened of him, the man held the command of the household, and demanded respect. That much power made Jigane act this way, much as he disliked it.

"I hear that you and your brother were promoted to Genin today. It seems that you can keep up with Dakuro after all." Jigane just nodded, knowing that his father was commending him, no matter how much it sounded like double-edged praise. "So as a gift to you, as well as to keep your mother sane, I give you these." He laid out a pair of swords upon the table, much to Jigane's surprise.

The boy moved to the table with hesitant steps, as if expecting this all to be a cruel joke that would be so callously ripped away from him. He knelt at the opposite side of the small table, and grasped the nearest sword, which was slightly shorter than the average Katana. Its weight was perfect, balancing easily upon his finger. The other sword was as a Wakizashi, but slightly shorter as well, as if both were compensating for Jigane's young age. "Thank you very much!" he said, bowing all the way to the floor. "These...are of the same-"

"Yes. The same quality as the heirloom. I've seen you practice, Jigane." The young boy paled at this, and his eyes became downcast. "You fight with that sword in your left, and a kunai in your right. Now you can do so properly." Jigane did not know what to say, and stayed quiet, staring at the swords rather than look his father in the face. "Inform me when you believe you've mastered them. For now, I'll work with Dakuro."

Jigane bowed again, once more uttering the words "Yes father," as the adult left the room. The young boy wasn't quite sure what to expect, now. His father, whom he believed to be saddened by Jigane's very existence, suddenly gave him a set of swords? And he'd been watching the young boy practice? Jigane frowned, uncertain about what it all meant. But he'd make his father proud, and perhaps continue to earn respect as he had. He nodded, strapping the swords to his back, and turned leaving for his training area. He had practicing to do.

* * *

The Meikou twins and Touketsu arrived in class the next day looking rather eager to meet their Jounin instructor. A few groups left rather early, their instructors there before the class had even began. The three of them hadn't waited too long, however, before a woman in a pure-black body suit entered the room, her azure hair left in a simple pony-tail down her back. "I'm in command of Cell four. Which ones are you?" she asked simply, getting straight to the point.

Jigane stood first, followed by the other two. "That'd be us, um..." he began, not certain what to call his teacher. She nodded, and after a quick signal, headed out of the room. "Crap," the Meikou boy muttered, hurtling over his desk in an attempt to catch up with his instructor, when he crashed into another boy. The guy he'd run into flipped back up to his feet the second his upper back had hit the ground. "Uh, sorry..." Jigane muttered, but the boy grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to face him.

"Hiraku-kun..." a young girl said from nearby, probably in Hiraku's cell. Jigane knew the boy well, as they hadn't exactly gotten along over the years. A quick glance at the girl told him it was Ayame, who had been a friend of Dakuro's before his bloodline had happened. Since then, the boy had little time for any sort of friendship, and it was amazing he was still as optimistic as he ever had been.

The two stared at each other coldly, both of them daring the other to do something. But soon they were pulled apart by another Jounin, and the Fourth Cell made its way out the door. Outside, Jigane slammed his fist against a tree, obviously angry. "That idiot. Who does he think he is?" He punched the tree again, with the same hand, and blood trickled down his knuckle. Cursing, he pulled his hand way, pressing the wound into his leg to staunch the bleeding.

"So, where's our Jounin?" Touketsu asked, looking around for the woman who had just announced her leadership of their team.

"Don't know. She didn't say where she was going..." Dakuro said softly, tapping his upper lip in thought. "I suppose we should look for her, though. We need to begin training." The other two nodded, but no one moved, all of them uncertain where to begin. "Any ideas?" he asked a second later, unable to repress a smile.

"I'm fairly certain that this is our first training session," Jigane said, frowning. "It doesn't make sense for her to do what she did for any reason other than that. So the training session is to find her, then?" His frown didn't fade, as he didn't think he had it quite right. There was another piece to this puzzle, one that he couldn't quite lay a finger on. There would be a difficulty in finding her, but he wasn't certain what it would be.

"Well, first we need her name," Touketsu added, nearly causing Jigane to smack himself in the face. Why hadn't he thought of that? "I'll bet that Iruka-sensei has all of their names written down. We should go ask him." Jigane nodded, as it was a good idea, and they needed her name in order to find her. "Then let's go!" The fourth team nodded to one another, then darted back inside the building, looking for Iruka.

On top of the building, a shadow watched the proceedings below. "Not bad children. But you'll have to do better than that," a voice whispered, before the figure vanished from sight.

"Iruka-sensei!" the three of them called, but the room was empty, except for three students, who were looking rather irritated. "Where did everyone go?" Dakuro asked, looking about the empty room in confusion.

"They all left!" shouted a boy with blond, spiked hair. He crossed his arms on his desk and put his head down, grumbling to himself. "And our sensei still hasn't shown up!"

"Well, at least yours might be normal, if only a bit late, Naruto," Touketsu offered. "Ours vanished as soon as she went outside, so now we have to find her. You three probably don't know any Jounins, do you?"

They shook their heads, and the black-haired one, Sasuke, spoke up. "Why don't you try looking for her yourself instead of relying on others? Or are you incapable?" His position or tone never changed, but it still irritated Jigane all the more.

"We would, but she didn't tell us her name before she vanished. We were hoping Iruka-sensei would have the names written down, so we could find out. But as you know, he isn't here." His eyes narrowed, but Sasuke just ignored him, intent on whatever he had been doing previously.

Sakura shrugged, helpless at what to do. "I don't what to tell you guys, sorry." The three muttered their thanks and left the room, and Naruto shouted again, his voice carrying down the hallways. They walked in thought, not really paying attention to where they were going, and ran into someone, quite literally. Each of them, by instinct, had reached for their weapons, but upon seeing that it was a Konoha ninja, refrained.

"Nice reflexes," the ninja said, smiling at them. "You wouldn't happen to be Cell Seven, would you?" The three shook their heads, and the elder shinobi frowned. "Oh well, they're probably still waiting then. Excuse me," he said, walking with his hands in his pockets down the hallway.

"Pardon," Jigane said suddenly, a thought striking him. "You're a Jounin, right? Perhaps you could help us real quick?" The ninja paused, turning around, and motioned for Jigane to continue. "Well, you see, our Jounin sorta...vanished on us, only she didn't tell us her name before she did. So, we have no way of tracking her down." Jigane roughly described her to Kakashi, assisted by Touketsu when he left out certain details or got some of them wrong.

Kakashi thought for a second, then pointed out the door. "Karei-san will be waiting for you at the seventh training ground. She does this to all new students, but you all look like you've got your act together. You're lucky you ran into me, though. She and I traded training grounds for this set of students, just to confuse hers. Good luck, and don't get discouraged," he said as he turned, waving to them while facing away. "She's harsh, but quite capable."

All three thanked him heartily, before dashing out of the room and making their way toward the training grounds. "Number seven, right?" Touketsu asked, earning her a nod from the twins. They sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them, making it there slightly before noon. As they approached, their teacher stood abruptly, confused at seeing them there as early as it was.

"I'm impressed," she said simply. "How'd you find me so quickly?" Once they had caught their breath, they explained how they'd run into Kakashi, and that he'd simply told them where she was. She looked a little angry at first, but then nodded to herself. "Well, if Kakashi-san thought he could tell you, then I suppose you must be at least decent." She dropped into a defensive stance, and taunted the children with two fingers. "Combat training first, then we'll learn a bit about each other. Come!" she called, and it began.


	2. Chapter 2

Jigane raised an eyebrow at their teacher, slightly confused as to why they had begun combat training so early. Though he and Dakuro knew about each other's abilities, strengths and weaknesses, they knew nothing of Touketsu, and vice-versa. He hesitated slightly, and in that slight second, a kunai launched itself from their teacher's grasp, heading directly at him. He did not move, and in fact smiled in the face of possible death.

Touketsu gasped as she saw the projectile, though there was nothing she could do. But as it came within inches of Jigane's throat, it suddenly stopped in mid-air. The Meikou boy's eyes drifted over to his brother, whose eyelids were shut in concentration. The weapon twisted and writhed, the metal bending just as easily as if it were clay, and became two shurikens, spinning madly in the air. Dakuro's eyes opened at this point, and Jigane couldn't repress as smile as he heard Touketsu gasp as she saw.

Dakuro's eyes: the white, the iris, and even the pupil had turned a metallic silver. There was a slight amount of variation in the different parts, so one could still tell where each part of his eye was supposed to be. He made a simple motion with his hand, and the two throwing stars launched themselves forward at their teacher. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, as if not expecting such an attack. The Jounin moved easily out of the way of the stars, simply stepping to the side. 'The Hagure bloodline? In Konoha? Most interesting..." she said, taking up a move evasive-type stance.

"Whoa whoa whoa...what? Bloodline?" Touketsu asked, looking at the two twins. "What kind of-" she began, but a large shuriken, one nearly as big as she was tall, whirred through the air, towards her. Glancing at Dakuro again, she sprinted over to him, the large weapon following her. He nodded as she drew close to him, causing the metallic object to freeze in the air, controlled by the power that lie within his Meikou blood.

He simply sent this one back, as Jigane was moving forward as well. The boy had drawn both of the swords that had been given to him by his father, and held them with great determination as he moved forward toward her. He swung his blade just as the large weapon flew over his head, aiming for her as well. Karei moved with liquid grace, plucking the shuriken from the air, and using it to deflect Jigane's sword.

"About your bloodline..." Touketsu asked again, hounding after the information. Before Dakuro could even attempt to answer, Jigane sailed back to them, landing roughly at their feet. He got up quickly, shooting Touketsu a dark look.

"Later. Just know what he's capable of for now, and we'll worry about it later." He knelt, as he saw the storm of projectiles headed toward him from his sensei. "Get down," he informed Touketsu, who did so as well. She looked on fearfully, uncertain what to do in the face of all of those weapons. Metal from the chains on Dakuro's clothing, and from Jigane's throwing weapons liquefied at almost the same time, and wrapped around the trio like a blanket.

The metal hardened quickly, and the weapons bounced harmlessly off of them, littering the nearby ground with bits of metal. "Keep the metal," Jigane announced as he stood, and Dakuro nodded, the metal twisting and reforming, adding to the length of the chain that had already been a part of his clothing. "We need you to help attack, Tou-chan," Jigane said softly, his hands tightening around the hilts of his weapons. She nodded, ignoring the name change, and suddenly each of her hands held a handful of acupuncture needles.

Jigane said nothing as he saw them, but was doubtful as to their effectivity. Then again, he had always been doubtful about the abilities of others until he saw them in action. Hiraku-kun was one of the few that had earned the young boy's respect, though the two of them fiercely disliked one another. Sasuke-kun had been another, though it was sort of hard not to have his skills, being an Uchiha genius and all.

Breaking out of his reverie of thought, he changed his stance, readying himself for when Dakuro attacked to include his own strikes as well. A chain shot past his right, snaking its way toward Karei-sensei. Jigane chose that moment to strike as well, as he had planned. He darted forward, looking for the most available opening available to him. He spotted what would work best, and slashed diagonally from the left with both of his swords, just as the chain struck at the upper-right.

It was at this time that needles began to approach from all directions, thousands of them all aimed directly for the center, where their sensei was located. Jigane watched, in awe, as her entire body blurred somewhat, and she moved far too fast for him to be able to keep up. He could see flashes of movement from her, but it was still unreal to him just how quickly her body was moving. Dakuro's chain wrapped around his two swords, then about his body, restricting his movement.

He then saw her grab one of the needles, then seemingly use it to deflect the others, moving far too quickly to be natural. Jigane knew that he and his brother had to strike now, as there wouldn't be another opportunity like this. There was no way that Touketsu still had more needles after this assault, though the Meikou boy didn't quite understand how she had managed to pull off such a feat in the first place. He no longer doubted her skill, but it seemed that she had a few secrets of her own to reveal to them.

As their sensei continued to deflect the needles, Dakuro picked them up from the ground, sending them back into the melee as Jigane untangled the chain, taking nearly twenty seconds before he had freed himself. The instant he had, the chain snapped back toward their sensei, wrapping itself around her legs. Her eyes widened, and though she continued to deflect the needles, Dakuro was now using them to add to links in the chain, slowly crawling up her body and becoming ever-more restrictive.

Jigane, on the other hand, was swinging his swords in a berserk fury, raining blow upon blow down on his target. She, despite her confines, did an excellent job in making certain that none of his blows landed with their full, deadly force. The rain of needles ended, but Touketsu was once more among them, grabbing the loose needles from the ground and hurling them all in one smooth motion. She moved as if dancing, never standing in one spot for longer than the barest of seconds before launching another handful of the needles at her target.

The chain finally succeeded in trapping one of her arms, and Dakuro held it tightly, not wanting her to have full use of it again. As soon as it was trapped, Jigane struck again, and several needles shot came from Touketsu, all striking their sensei with the deadly force that they had been designed with. Jigane froze, expecting to see blood as his blades struck home, but at the same time fearing that the new genins had somehow accidentally killed a jounin.

Yet when his blades bit, there was nothing but a large cloud of smoke, leading them to believe that a substitution jutsu had been used. They each turned, looking to see where Karei-sensei might have vanished to. All three were on their guard, not wanting to be caught unaware by their teacher, especially not now that they had managed to score a decisive blow. But several seconds passed, and there was no sign of where their teacher had gone. "Hey!" Touketsu exclaimed, causing the two boys to jump, turning to face her. "There's nothing here!"

Jigane and Dakuro both gave her confused looks, as they weren't quite sure what she was getting at. They looked at where she was pointing, where there was nothing, just as she had said. "Yeah, and...?" Jigane asked, frowning. Then it suddenly dawned on him, and he could see the realization on Dakuro's face as well, as the silver faded from his eyes. There was nothing where their teacher had supposedly used the substitution technique, meaning that it actually hadn't been used in the first place. "So...then where did she go?"

"Nowhere. I've been here the whole time," said a voice from the air around them. "Kai," was said softly, and their teacher's form faded into existence. "Not too bad, kids. The three of you were able to beat a single, low-ranked chuunin. Normally, that wouldn't be such a big deal, but you had no knowledge of some of your other team member's strengths and weaknesses. This forced you to build teamwork on nothing more than what you knew you could trust about someone. And in a real mission, there's no time for arguments. You pass!"

The three of them looked at one another, confused looks all around. "Pass what?" Dakuro asked, uncertain what that meant for the three of them. Had they passed some sort of initiation? Or perhaps this was the true genin test?

"Well," Karei explained, taking a seat on the grass. "Though you achieved genin rank, that didn't quite mean that you were ready to begin taking assignments. You see, the most important thing to remember is that very few of the jobs assigned to us are done independently. On almost every task, you'll be with others, and being able to work with them and complete these assignments is top priority. This little test was to see whether or not you could do that. And since you did magnificently, you pass."

"So, had we failed, we would have been forced back to the Academy?" Jigane asked, a little fearfully. Karei-sensei nodded, and each of the three looked a little white. He glanced at both of his teammates, and was suddenly glad that he'd been placed with them. He doubted that he could be so trusting for anyone else except his brother. Even those who had proven themselves to him wouldn't have been able to earn his trust so easily. "So...now you said we'd talk?" he asked, more to everyone in general than to Karei.

She nodded, "Yes. Now that you've learned that you can trust one another, now's the time to find out what you didn't know beforehand. Feel free to ask any of your team members, including me, anything. Friends may have secrets from one another, but allies cannot." She nodded, and stood slowly, stretching.

"Okay, I'll go first," Touketsu said, turning toward the twins. "What is this bloodline that you have, Dakuro? I've never even heard of such a thing in Konoha. Didn't sensei call it the Hagure bloodline? But your family name isn't Hagure..." Jigane raised a hand to silence her, glancing at his brother, as if deciding who should speak. Dakuro cleared his throat, and Jigane nodded to himself; Dakuro would be the best one to explain it.

The younger twin began speaking. "Well, it really isn't that difficult of an idea to comprehend, once you realize that the two of us aren't originally from Konoha. We're from the Hidden Stone Village, way over on the other side of the Hidden Sand. Some things happened, and we ended up here, which is why you haven't heard of it. The reason for our name, though, is something different. The Hagure bloodline is...not as normal a bloodline as it sounds. Specifically, only one family can have the bloodline. Those with the bloodline can bear only a single son to carry on the name. It is impossible for one who has the bloodline in their veins to bear a second son, and daughters can't pass on the bloodline.

"Before you say anything about Jigane and myself, that's why we left the village. The birth of twins was a bit much for them to fathom, and despite Jigane being the elder son, I'm the one who ended up with the bloodline." This caused the older boy to look away, as if ashamed. Touketsu said nothing, but lay a hand on Jigane's arm. The boy didn't respond, physically or verbally.

"Tou-chan," Dakuro said, earning attention from the girl. "How did you fire so many needles at once? I've seen the fastest of our class, Sasuke-kun I think, but even he couldn't have done something at that speed."

"I'm actually rather interested in hearing this as well," Karei-sensei added, her gaze moving to the frosty-eyed girl.

Touketsu's shoulders raised higher around her body, as if to protect her from any insults or whatnot. "Well, it was mainly just prior planning. I wasn't certain which team I was going to end up on, but I knew that eventually, there would be some sort of combat training. So over the last week or so, I had gone and set up traps on each of the training fields, as I knew that I'd eventually end up on one of them. Like I said, just prior planning."

Jigane nodded, sorry for having underestimated her. "Wow, that must've took a lot of effort." She just shrugged, as if not wanting to answer the question. "And if you used that many needles on all of the different places, it must've cost a bit of money, as well."

Touketsu just shrugged. "My family's quite wealthy, so it's not like it's that big of a deal, anyway. I'll just go and retrieve the needles later, and just replace my own as I use them. Don't worry, I've got this all thought out," she said with a grin.

"Speaking of those needles, where did you learn to use them? Konoha doesn't really train people in the use of acupuncture needles." This question was posed by Karei-sensei, who once more looked at the young girl. It seemed that the sensei was rather knowledgeable about some things, but others tended to slip past her information net.

"Well, I'm originally from the Hidden Mist Village. Many people there use the needles as an alternative to shuriken or kunai, as our metal deposits are quite scarce. The needles take up far less metal than either of the other thrown instruments, and are easier to make. It just so happens that my father, who was an ANBU for the Mist Village, brought along a large supply of them." She shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal."

Karei-sensei nodded to herself. "Ahh, now I see why they set me with you all. I was wondering why, as this team isn't exactly balanced, as you're all fairly capable. Usually there's some sort of weak link in the team's chain, which all of the members must learn to accept, deal with, and eventually overcome. But you all have your strong points and weak points which are overcome by your teammates."

Jigane raised an eyebrow. "So what's the reason that we're sent to study under you? I don't quite understand..." he said, and his words were echoed by the other two. What seemed obvious to their sensei was going over their heads.

"Well, I'm also not from Konoha originally. In fact, I just recently transferred here, as my village was seeking to improve relations with others by sending their promising chuunin and jounin to work in other Villages. So none of us are Konoha natives, which seems to give us that bond to begin with. But you've all come to accept your role here, am I right?"

The three students nodded. But before Karei could continue, Dakuro asked, "Sensei, if you're not from the Village of Konoha, what village are you from? You don't appear to be from either Hidden Sand or Hidden Stone, and I'm certain Tou-chan would have said something if she knew you were from the Hidden Mist village. So...what's your home village?"

Karei-sensei smiled. "Quite perceptive, Dakuro. Well, as I'm certain you all noticed, my Shadow Clone didn't vanish when it took damage, as most do. It took a killing blow to eradicate it. You see, that's the specialty of the village I come from. The Village Hidden in Shadows."


	3. Chapter 3

The next few months passed quickly for Cell 4. Several tasks were given to them, of the genin level, and each was completed with unrelenting tenacity. At any point in which metal was a major part of its creation or destruction, Dakuro took over. Physical jobs were headed up by Jigane, who was quite strong, despite his size. Then the few missions requiring tact or precision were led by Touketsu, who had a fine eye for detail. Each mission they took seriously, no matter how trivial it seemed. Karei had drilled into them the idea of teamwork, and that each person was built to handle different sorts of missions. Few were those who could lead in any situation, and thus she wanted her students to be as well-rounded as possible. Anything less would have been unacceptable.

But, even the Hokage recognized their competence, and the Chuunin exams were fast approaching. After a long talk between the Hokage and Karei, she was able to get her students a mission of C ranking, with her leading them. It was a simple request: a rich lord requested help to protect his mansion from a gang of thieves. He had received advance warning from a traitor to the thieves in return for a small sum of money. The lord had asked other nations for assistance as well, which made Cell 4 the best bet, since its members weren't Konoha-born to begin with.

"A C-Rank mission?" Jigane asked, shocked. His stance temporarily dropped, and Karei slammed a palm into his chest, knocking him back quite a distance. His flight backward was slowed by Dakuro, who used the metal within his twin's blades to resist the movement. The sword-user landed softly, his stance appearing once more. "What makes you think that we can handle a C-Rank?" he asked, moving forward to attack.

"Yeah, it's not like we're Chuunin or anything, Karei-sensei," Touketsu added, freezing her sensei's leg to the ground with a blast of frost. Karei struck the ice with her palm, shattering it and leaping backward out of range of Jigane and his two blades. As she leapt backward, a host of chains shot up from the ground and caught their sensei, wrapping around her limbs. The chains slammed her to the ground, and without hesitation, Jigane drove both blades of his through her heart. The clone shuddered, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Karei smiled at them, sitting atop a log a short distance away. "I think that means we're ready," Dakuro commented, his chains slowly coming back to him, wrapping and winding around his body. "Am I right?" He asked, directing his attention to their sensei, who nodded warmly, an expression not normally found upon her face.

"The Princes of Steel and the Princess of Ice," she said with a growing smile as she stood, moving toward them. "And of course, the Queen of Shadows. For the rest of this mission, we will not refer to each other by name. In a mission scenario, especially when cooperating with those that you do not know, a name can be the difference between life and death. Any ninja can copy an appearance, but if they know your name, you innately trust them, despite what they might truly be. Thus, we are only allowed to speak each other's name when I do so first. Otherwise, I am the Queen of Shadows. You, Touketsu, are the Princess of Ice. Jigane, you are the Prince of Held Steel, and Dakuro, you are the Prince of Floating Steel. Understood?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

The three nodded hesitantly. They understood the meaning of the lesson, but wondered if Karei had any suspicions about their mission already. Something that would have her bring up something this serious so suddenly. None of them had the right to question her motives or ideas, only that they could learn from her words, and make their own decisions. They had also been told that everything they had learned was just information. Nothing was an absolute, and each had their own minds about the subject, and could use the information any way they wished. But...this time seemed different.

"Well then, now that that's been decided, let's be off. I've accepted the mission on our behalf, and we'll need to be there before the week is out."

"Wait, where are we going? You explained the mission, but didn't say where it would be happening," Touketsu protested. The twins backed her up, also highly interested in where this mission would be taking place.

"In rice country, somewhere. The country is nearby a few different hidden villages, and even has one of its own. But the lord doesn't trust them for some reason, probably since they are so new, and had looked outward to other villages." She nodded in affirmation, then looked at the three, as if waiting for a question. They came fairly often in this group, who were each eager to learn. She liked that.

"Well, won't that anger their hidden village? I mean, if someone from the fire country went and requested assistance from the Hidden Sand village, I'd be a little angry," Jigane said.

"Exactly," Karei said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think that these thieves are going to be our regular, every-day raiders. Neither does our Kage, as he's claimed this a high C-Rank mission. Protection from thieves is often low C or a very high ranking D-Rank mission. But since we all seem to think something's up..." she trailed off, letting her students nod in understanding.

"So, if we encounter ninja there, are we just to do our assigned task and take them out as well? It seems like that would put an unnecessary strain on the relationships..." Dakuro added. The other two looked at him, surprised he had come up with such a question.

"This is true, however, our client's protection comes first, Dakuro-kun. If at all possible, it would be beneficial if we didn't have to kill any of them. You see, in order to earn our Hokage's trust, I've often gone a step further than my orders each time, to prove loyalty. So if we were to capture a few of these thieves and question them, then..."

"Then we can find out if there's any real connection between them and the Rice Country's hidden village!" Touketsu finished, understanding.

"Exactly. So now, are we ready to leave, or are there any more questions?" She waited for a few seconds, and when nothing but silence greeted her, she nodded. "Let's go, then. We've got three days to make it. We can do it in two if we hurry." The clearing, which had been the location of four shinobi the barest of seconds ago, was now empty.

* * *

"And here we are," Karei-sensei said, pausing at the top of a tree which looked down onto a small mansion set into the ground. It was completely surrounded by forests, which were both a blessing and a curse to the defenders. Many couldn't come at them at a time...but they could come from any direction.

The other three landed just behind her, panting and sweating heavily. Jigane seemed to be the best off, as he was only slightly winded. However Dakuro and Touketsu were doubled over, their breath coming in rapid gasps. "You...said...two...days..." Tou-chan argued, still managing to look angry despite the sweat running down her face, which was ruining the light amount of make-up she was wearing. "Not...one..."

"Did I?" Karei asked, turning to face them. Jigane had already caught his breath, an impressive feat, and was scouting out the area, looking for anything interesting. As he did so, a shinobi leapt into the trees, and all members of Cell 4 immediately went on the defensive.

"You are the ninja from Konoha?" he asked simply, a Mist forehead protector hanging around his neck. Touketsu looked a little longingly at him, but realized she must look a mess in her current state, and looked away. Being from the Mist herself, such a thing evoked powerful feelings of homesickness, despite her happiness now in Konoha.

"We are. A Jounin, and three Genin who are more than ready to take on the Chuunin exam. And yourself?" Her countenance had changed from what the three were used to. She seemed softer, almost approachable from a male standpoint.

"A shinobi from the Village Hidden in Mist. My comrades, as well as those from the sand, stone, and a few other villages are inside, going over battle plans. Yours is the last to arrive," he said, almost blaming them.

Karei's eyebrows came together in a light expression of anger. "I apologize. A few last-minute training sessions were in order. But due to them, we are now able to fight on a level equal to you. So if you would please lead us into the compound, we would greatly appreciate it." The Mist ninja met her gaze evenly for a few moments, then turned, motioning for them to follow. Standing, the four darted after him, entering the building seconds later.

It was...dark, to say the least. The rooms didn't seem to be completely furnished, either. But it was almost built like a fort, in case it was ever attacked. There were many winding pathways and hallways which would restrict enemy movement and numbers. All of them began to wonder, as they walked down the pathways, if this was a simple of a mission as it sounded on the surface. So far, each part of it seemed a little suspicious, and it just got worse as time went on.

Soon, they ended up in a large meeting room, with several other ninja from many different villages. The three suddenly felt quite inferior, as nearly all participants in the room had a Chuunin or Jounin vest. There were very few without one. "Good, you've arrived," said a tall, powerfully-built man who had the emblem of stone upon his forehead protector. "Please, have a seat," he said, gesturing to one of the long wooden tables that were occupied by other ninja. They quickly took a seat, allowing the meeting to get underway.

"As we were saying prior, those who excel in offense, such as our friends from the Sand Village, will be placed in the outside, as their attacks are more powerful when they aren't limited by space. Those who operate defensively, such as those from the Stone Village, will be placed inside. They will be able to use the natural features of the building in order to better defend it from the invaders. Others shall be placed where they are most effective. For instance, the Hidden Star village has high powers that work best when outside, thus they will be partnered with the Sand. What are your team's abilities, Hidden Leaf?" He asked, drawing attention to the four of them, who were listening intently.

After receiving encouraging glances from their sensei, the three genin stood. Taking a deep breath, Dakuro spoke first, wanting to get the whole thing out of the way. "I'm heir to the Hagure bloodline," he said simply, causing mostly confused looks, but ones of shock from the Hidden Stone village. "J-" he began, but caught himself. "My brother, my twin, is a competent swordsman, and his skill grows exponentially by the day." That statement caused even more of a surprised reaction, and the Stone ninja were quiet now, deep in thought. An elderly member appraised Jigane, as if looking for something.

Touketsu stood, and bowed to everyone. "As they are originally from the Hidden Stone village, I am one from the Hidden Mist." It was her former ninja village to look surprised now. "As most of our ninja do, I've an innate talent for water, although most of my talent lands within the ice domain. I'm also quite proficient with the throwing needles of our clan."

Finally, Karei stood, and the other villages watched her, as if expecting her to be from one of their villages as well. "I've the only clan not represented here. I hail from the Village Hidden in Shadows." There were many gasps among the older ninja, and talk sprouted almost instantly. The students looked surprised, their gaze going back and forth between their teacher and the others. When Karei knew that the eyes of her students weren't going to leave her without an answer, she sighed, saying only, "I'll tell you later. I promise." Jigane looked away, anger growing within him. She had constantly stressed that all information be in the open, that there would be no secrets among members of the same team. And now she was the one breaking those words. He scowled, putting his head down.

"Well," the speaker said, after everyone had quieted, "not a single one of those were the answers that we were expecting. But heirs of the Hagure bloodline, we of the Stone welcome you heartily. The one of ice, an uncommon talent among the Mist shinobi, your skills are highly appreciated. And you of the shadow...your presence here is a great reassurance. May you forgive our ancestors," he said, and as he did so, all of the others stood, repeating those words. Then as one, they bowed to her.

"Consider them forgiven," she said calmly, and they all returned to their seats, though they regarded the Konoha team much more respectfully now.

"The talents of your genin will be looked over by our strategists, if you don't mind. Then we will decide where we shall place them." Karei nodded her acquiescence. "Then, if I may have your names?" Karei smiled, and gave him the codenames she had previously given to her students. He nodded immediately, saying only, "I will respect your secrets, shadowed one." Then, "Princes of Steel, you will come with us, as we are most familiar with your talents. Princess of Ice, please go with the Mist shinobi, for the same reason." The genin hesitantly nodded, and stood, moving to their respective areas.

Dakuro was paired with a lean man with a gaunt face. He didn't look particularly pleasing, but from the array of weapons he carried on him, he seemed to be at least competent. Jigane was to work with the elder man who had taken an interest in him earlier, who wore a pair of weapons very similar to the young boy. Touketsu was sent to work with a woman from the Mist village, who moved and spoke with the tranquility of the water she served.

Karei knew that there would be more than just an inspection of her students' talent. Her trained eye looked over each one that they had been paired with, and could tell that there would be training being done. Though she didn't want to, she knew that the individual training would be good for them. It would play to each of their talents, something she had attempted to do with the D-Rank missions they had been given.

But the man teaching Jigane intrigued her slightly, as he appeared to be in his late sixties or even early seventies, but only wore a Chuunin vest. Normally, the warriors of that age were either retired, Kages, or a special Jounin at the least. Yet he seemed uninterested in advancement. She could tell, however, that the man was highly skilled, perhaps even more so than herself. She realized it was a unique way to complete lower ranking missions with ease, and would make their village look superior. But no...that didn't seem to be it either. She frowned. Something was definitely up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dakuro's Training:**

The tall, lean man appraised Dakuro, looking him over as if trying to find a flaw in a perfect statue. He scoured over the boy, which quite honestly unnerved Dakuro a bit. "Not bad," his 'advisor' finally said, stepping back to cross his arms over his chest. "You're well-built without being stocky, lithe without being thin. An important thing when you're heir to the Hagure bloodline. You need to be versatile, able to react to any situation. Do you understand?"

Dakuro did indeed. His father had constantly drilled him on such things over the years. The Hagure needed to be someone who could fill any gap within a team. He needed to fit between the rough seams of his teammates, welding them into a cohesive unit. When they lacked offense, he was supposed to be the offense. The same roles applied for defense. And when a crack appeared in the formation, it was he that was to fix it. He knew these ideas well. "Yes," he finally responded. "My father has talked with me quite extensively about these ideals."

The man nodded. "Good. Now, let's see what you can do. My name is Aikama, and I shall test your limits." Even as the man was speaking, Dakuro allowed his bloodline to activate. His vision seemed to become slightly overcast with grey, as if looking through a very light fog. He'd seen his own eyes in the mirror to know the cause of such changes. Aikama reached into his jacket, and released several shuriken and kunai, all aimed for the Hagure descendant. Dakuro's eyes narrowed as the weapons drew closer, and a light magnetic charge seemed to emanate from him.

Just inches away, the weapons stopped, as if hitting a wall, but then crumpled into flat discs of metal. Dakuro did not move, but the flat discs slowly changed their shape to become small orbs, and began floating around him. "Not bad. The basic ranged defense of the Hagure," Aikama said, and then drew two light blades. "But how fast can you keep up?"

The spheres began rotating as if in a frenzy. "Try me," Dakuro replied, quite confident in his abilities. His father drilled him incessantly while he had been young, but ever since he started his training with Karei-sensei, the training had only gotten more difficult. Aikama moved forward, swinging rapidly with the small ninja swords. Around Dakuro, the spheres changed back into disc-like shapes, and moved, to his will, to intercept the sword strikes that his trainer was raining down. "I hope that's not your best. Jigane is better than that," Dakuro said, then watched as an idea crept into his head.

Aikama attempted to slash downward with both weapons, and the Hagure Descendant grinned. As the blades came down, the metal that he was using as defense enveloped the blades, and he forced them to the floor with a powerful exertion of his will. Aikama leapt backward, letting the swords go as they definitely weren't moving from where they were now located. The metal from the blades twisted and writhed as Dakuro broke apart its unique structure, forcing the metal to join in with the other pieces he had, forming four large orbs that moved about him lazily.

"Quite impressive. You've got a long way to go to become as the Hagure from ages ago, but I'll give you this: you're well on your way." He then removed two weapons that were rarely used by shinobi, an axe and a light hammer. He flipped the hammer over in his hand, then charged in, swinging the two weapons with uncanny accuracy and ferocity. Dakuro's shield flipped around, parrying the strikes as they came with little-to-no effort. Despite Aikama's renewed vigor, it seemed that Dakuro was far more skilled than he had expected.

Leaping backward, he hurled the hammer, which spun lazily through the air. In a single motion, Aikama reached into his shuriken holder and let several fly before charging in, the axe held tightly in his left hand. The thrown stars reached their target first, and Dakuro deflected them easily, forcing each of them to compress and add to his metallic shield, as if showing off. The hammer came flying in next, and Dakuro moved the shield to its location, causing the hammer to fly up into the air.

Aikama came flying in, swinging low with his axe in an attempt to trip the shinobi. Unexpectedly, Dakuro just leapt over it, which he hoped would throw the other off balance. Aikama was no neophyte, however, and continued the swing, using the momentum to bring it down in a powerful overhand swing. Dakuro's shield intercepted it with ease, and caused Aikama to step backward in surprise as his arm was slightly numb. The Hagure user's eyes widened, and he used a burst of metal to knock his 'opponent' back, and then covered himself within a shell of metal as a huge gout of flame came from Aikama's mouth.

"Now how did you know I was going to do that?" he asked as Dakuro slowly let his shield down.

"Well, I slightly confused as to why you threw the hammer, but I realized during the second strike that it left your right hand, your main hand, free. So I made special care to watch it for any seals you might be trying to make. I've lived in the Fire Country long enough to know any fire jutsu seals." He crossed his arms over his chest as the spheres broke apart and returned to the several throwing stars, kunai, and swords that had been changed.

Aikama's eyes widened a bit, then he nodded approvingly. "Not bad at all. It's rare to see someone your age be able to reconstruct the original form of the metal that was used. Impressive."

**Touketsu's Training:**

"Let's begin at the basics, so I can get a good grasp at where you are at with your power," the woman said softly to Touketsu. Her entire manner of being was like a small stream. Quiet and fragile, yet seeming to hold a great power within her. It intrigued Touketsu, as the other members of her squad seemed to give the woman a great deal of respect. "What is the role of water?"

"Water is everything. All creatures need it to survive, as does our planet. It alone goes through the cycle of death and rebirth many, many more times than anything else. Without it, we would wither and die, as would the plants. It's in the ground beneath our feet, the land, and the air around us. It moves and thrives in all living creatures, animals and plants alike. It's...it's life."

Her mentor nodded, smiling happily. "Very good. You've had a good teacher. Now, come at me." The woman stood, her body long and slender. Touketsu watched, almost in awe of her movements. The grace that she commanded was the epitome of a Mist Ninja. The girl realized that even though her mentor wasn't wearing a vest, she was of at least Jounin rank, which made her feel quite inferior. "Don't be afraid my child. I will not harm you."

Touketsu stood slowly, and withdrew a handful of needles from her pouch, distributing them between her two hands. "Can I ask you something? What's your name?"

The woman smiled. "You can call me Mizu." Touketsu nodded, and without any sort of warning, she hurled the six needles she'd taken out, and began making seals as soon as her hands were free. She pointed her hands toward Mizu, and the very air around them grew colder as the water vapor in the air collected, forming into thin, icy needles. The woman had blocked the first thrown needles with a simple opening of her parasol. The Princess of Ice knew that though the parasol looked decorative, it was one of Mist's most powerful weapons.

The ice needles flew forward, and she followed them, darting toward Mizu as fast as she could. As she ran, she drew her Chisa-gatana from her belt, and swung it as hard as she could. The woman simply smiled serenely, and the blade passed right through her, as did the ice needles. Touketsu turned, looking for her. She caught a glimpse of Mizu to her right, and whirled her body around to face her. The former Mist shinobi darted forward again, hoping to catch her target this time.

But as she approached, Mizu unleashed a torrent of kunai from seemingly nowhere, one of which caught Touketsu in the throat, and another in the eye. The girl paused, then fell, attempting to breathe through the hard metal shoved through her trachea. Narrowing her eyes, she clasped her hands together, and managed to force out the word "Kai." Then just as suddenly, the kunai were gone, and she stood shakily, searching for Mizu.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to harm me," she accused as she caught sight of the high-ranking Mist ninja.

"You needed to see, my dear, that all reflections seen upon water's surface are not real. But as I thought, you have a keen eye for seeing through Genjutsu. And those that can see through it often have a talent for using it. And to see through one of mine so easily is something to be commended. I am something of a Genjutsu specialist, and it has saved my team many times over."

Touketsu looked at her, a little confused. "Are you saying that you'd like to teach me Genjutsu? I mean, I know a little, but mainly little tricks I've learned from scrolls at my house. I don't know anything like what you just did to me, or even close to that." The girl looked a little uncertain of herself, and her eyes darted nervously from side to side. "I don't know if I'd be a very good student."

Mizu stepped forward, so smoothly that Touketsu could have sworn the woman was made of liquid, and placed her hand upon the girl's face. "You'll be an excellent student. Everything takes time, my dear. You can't expect to master something overnight, now can you? Come with me, and I'll show you all of sides that exist to water. Just as it can be gentle and deep, so can it be ferocious and terrifying."

**Jigane's Training:**

"So you're twin to the heir of the Hagure bloodline? Interesting...very interesting." The old man mused, stroking his beard as he watched Jigane. "It's been some time since one was last around. My father, actually." This brought a surprised look to the young man's face. There had been others? "I can remember the days quite clearly, when my father and my uncle trained constantly, and I did too, under their tutelage."

"I don't mean to be rude," Jigane interrupted, "but what does all of this have to do with me? I find it very interesting that there were other twins other than...my brother and I," he finished, nearly spilling out their names.

The old man simply laughed in response, taking his time in calming down. "Good, good. An eagerness to learn. Well, let's see how you take to being the twin to the heir. My name is Kusen, prince of steel. I need not know your name, so don't feel unworthy of anything."

Jigane's head cocked to the side. "Kusen? That's not a ninja name. That sounds very Bushido, to be honest." Jigane hoped that Kusen wouldn't grow irritated with the boy's unending questions. It was a trait that Karei tried to bring out of Jigane, and now it was simply habit to ask questions.

Kusen nodded, though the laughter still swam under the surface of his features. "Yes. I suppose that, having moved away at a young age, you don't know some of Stone's customs. If the heir should ever have a twin, the twin is to be trained as a samurai, not a ninja." Jigane's eyes widened. "You see, the twin is always innately skilled with a blade, and thus they are 'chosen' to be samurai. And, since they are samurai, they are not allowed within the ranks of ninja. It took your father leaving Stone to give you a better future to make the village realize it was incorrect. So I'm slowly earning my way up the ranks. Though I know little about Chakra...my sword skills are nearly unparalleled. Let's see how you fare!" Kusen called, drawing a pair of katana from his shoulders.

Jigane's weapons were in his hands before he even realized it, and sheer instinct blocked the first blow, parrying it with his wakizashi. However, Kusen attacked again while Jigane's guard was still uncertain, and once more Jigane just managed to get his sword in the way. He darted backward, out of the older man's reach. "Good, good!" He called, darting forward, both swords held at the ready. Jigane, now that he had his defenses under his own control, was now ready for the attacks. The strikes were parried with almost ease, though a bystander with some knowledge of swordplay could tell that the attacks were coming faster, and much more skillfully.

An unnaturally fast attack from Kusen pushed Jigane to his limits. Their blades crashed once, and Jigane found himself wishing that his wakizashi carried a little more weight, like a katana. But the young boy had no chance to rest as another strike came in from the side, forcing his only katana once again to become a defensive weapon instead of an offensive one. However, just as the blades connected, Kusen's first strike had left Jigane's lighter blade, and was now aimed at his legs.

Jigane shifted his weight, and loosened his grip on his main sword. Kusen's blade forced it from his grasp, and he dodged around the slash from Kusen's attack. However, his katana slammed into the ground, working to parry the ground slash. Sensing that his teacher was left open, Jigane darted in with the wakizashi to strike. However, Kusen was suddenly behind him, both swords sheathed.

"Your skills are impressive. I honestly had a few doubts about the skills of one not trained in Stone, but yours are right on par." Kusen turned to face the boy, and his long limbs were crossed easily over his chest. "When did you figure out that you could wield blades just as easily as your brother could manipulate the shape of metal?"

Jigane put some thought into the question, sheathing his two blades as he did so. Kusen sat down in samurai form, and though the young boy wanted to honor his teacher somehow, he didn't quite feel that sitting that way would work for him. "Well," he said, just sitting down, his breath already returning to normal, "I think I was still in Stone. My father is a smith, as I'm sure you know, and I think I had begun playing around with the blades when I was no more than four or five. Why?"

Karei suddenly approached the two, sitting down off to the side. "How are things?" she asked, not really to one or the other.

Kusen grinned. "You got a great kid here, Shadow Queen. If he keep training on the regimen you've got him on, he'll be one of the best swordsmen in no time." He stood slowly, as if the brief training session had injured him in some way. "He's good." With that, he returned to his fellow Stone ninja.

Karei turned to Jigane. "I do hope your ego won't make your head too difficult to see," she said, a half-smile on her face.

Jigane shrugged. "Probably not. The confidence hit I just took at his skill about balances it out. He's really strong."

Karei stood. "But at least you know what you can aspire to. It's a very important thing to know." Jigane nodded, standing as well. "We've been given our rooms. The thieves are expected to strike in a few days, but that's no reason to shirk on your rest. The training will resume tomorrow, so don't be late. We'll be meeting in the forest outside."

Jigane nodded, and suddenly felt the exhaustion permeating his body. He was tired. Even so...he couldn't wait for the training tomorrow. As Karei-sensei had said, he now had a goal. Now he just needed to reach it.


	5. Chapter 5

The days passed by quickly for the genin, who practiced under both Karei-sensei and the Shinobi from the other villages that they had been paired with. Dakuro found his training relatively easy at first, until there were several opponents he needed to watch out for, which forced him to separate his mind and try to handle many problems at once. It took him awhile to get the hang of it, but in the few days that passed, he had learned, quite well, how to handle many angles and opponents.

Jigane's and Touketsu's training was much worse, the day usually ending with them too exhausted to do much else but sleep. However, they kept at it, never shirking away from their responsibility. Each of them rose at the crack of dawn, training all day with little time for breaks. Jigane didn't mind it, but he felt a little sorry for Touketsu, who was more used to being pampered. The first two days she complained about it, whining about how she wasn't getting enough sleep.

But Jigane let her catch a glimpse of his hands, which were blistered and torn open from training. And yet he held his blades with the same tenacity he always did, with a mixture of blood and pus running down the handles of the swords. The young Meikou boy smiled in satisfaction as he no longer heard the complaining words of his teammate anymore. He knew she was a little spoiled through life, but she had to learn some things the hard way. That's just the way it was.

Another day was at its end, and once more, the boy's body burned with exertion. Never before had anyone pushed him to his limits again and again, one day after another. Kusen was a formidable swordsman, and his skill kept Jigane going far past when the boy thought he'd be spent. However, as he lay down, Karei stood near their beds, arms crossed over her chest. "Something wrong?" he asked simply, not really in the mood for conversation.

Karei nodded. "They're invading tomorrow. Scouts have informed us that the thieves are a day ahead of schedule. No training tomorrow, just the strategy meeting. After that, we'll be on alert. So you should all get a good night's rest. That means no midnight training, Jigane." The boy narrowed his eyes and rolled over, sulking. "There's one more piece of information that you need to know." Jigane turned back over, though he still didn't seem happy. "There's some missing-nin working with the thieves. And they seem to be led by three Samurai."

Dakuro propped himself up on one elbow. "Samurai?" he asked, confused. "Why are Samurai leading Shinobi? Their skill isn't as great as ours."

Karei shook her head slowly. "Do not underestimate them, Prince of Steel. These three can control their Ki. And before any of you ask, Ki is essentially another type of Chakra. Our power is stored within our bodies, and comes from a strong body. Theirs is stored strictly in the muscles, and can be released in sudden, powerful bursts that have been known to rip through steel with ease."

The three children swallowed softly. It was like Taijutsu, only with an entirely different feel to it. Jigane rolled back over, throwing the covers over him. Ki, eh? he thought to himself, his hand on the hilt of his sword. That sounds like something I should learn... Thoughts of his own Chakra supplemented with this...Ki...returned the smile to his face as he slowly fell into slumber.

* * *

"Jigane! Wake up!" The voice of Karei-sensei flooded through whatever weak dreams he had been having, and forced him awake. He opened his eyes and sat up, hands already on the hilts of his blades. "They're here, and early. It seems the ones our scouts found was the main force. They had a small detachment far beyond that."

The young boy stood, a little unsteady at first, until Karei tossed him his swords. As soon as they were buckled around his waist, his balance was restored. He then woke Dakuro as she woke Touketsu, getting them ready as well. "Where are we meeting to discuss strategy?" Dakuro asked, waking as fast as any of the other, more experienced ninja.

"The same place as before, right Karei-sensei?" Touketsu informed, looking to her sensei for confirmation. A light nod was all that was given, and the four of them left swiftly, before some of the other squads. Karei had trained them well.

The meeting room was buzzing with conversation, each squad trying to speak louder than the rest. Finally, the squad that had led the meeting last time, from the Village Hidden in Stone, took control, having shown up later than the others. The diagram of the building was upon the wall, and with a quick jutsu, it floated in the air, magnified several times so that everyone could see it.

"Fellow shinobi. We know why we're all gathered here at this early hour. They've deceived our scouts, and are at our doorstep." It was Kusen who spoke, the elderly man's voice easily reaching all corners of the room. "My brothers and I have come up with a plan that will hold until their main force gets here, and then the switch is simple and subtle. Here is what we must do." As the diagram turned slowly, for everyone to see, several markings began appearing upon it, instructing each squad what position they were to take.

Karei and her three genin were just behind the front lines, to make sure that few, if any, got past them into the inner reaches of the building. As soon as teams saw their position, they retreated from the room, heading for where they were assigned. Karei had her students wait until the other teams had left, and moved to the Stone ninja, who were still discussing minor preparations. "May I have a word?" she asked simply, and Kusen nodded, moving aside with her.

"What help may I be, Queen of Shadows?" His tone was calm, respectful. He didn't feel that he'd done anything wrong, yet didn't seem surprised by her sudden invitation.

Karei paused. "Is there a reason you put those three genin so close to the front? I don't think that's a wise choice, considering their inexperience."

Kusen nodded, stroking his light beard as if in thought. "I do understand your concerns, Shadow Queen. I would be heartless if I did not, and I can assure you that I have a heart. Those three genin are talented, even more so than you might think. The twins are definitely stronger talent than Touketsu, but she has her own gentle strength that the two of them cannot match, even if combined. Not to mention, you of all are their leader. With all of the talent that your squad has at its disposal, it's quite clear that yours is the best choice to guard the doorway."

Karei nodded stiffly. "Fine," was her only reply, and she turned, nodding to her genin. The four vanished, moving toward their respective area.

"Jiroubou, are you ready?" the old man asked the third member of his team. The man was large, with a smattering of orange hair atop his head.

"Yes, sir," he replied, softly.

The fighting came fast and fierce, much more so than any of the shinobi had predicted. Missing-nin made up the majority of the advance party, and crashed against the ranks of Shinobi that stood guard outside of the forest mansion. The three genin stood, waiting, unsure exactly what was expected of them. They knew that they were to keep anyone from getting past them, but what did that entail? Were they supposed to kill? Or simply maim?

Karei could sense the unease in her students, and smiled apologetically at them. "You three are going to be forced to do things that most your age aren't. These ninja will kill you to get at their goal. The only way to deal with someone who plans on killing you is to kill them first." There was a slight hesitation, but then the three genin nodded in unison. "Good. The first is always the worst. Let's hope that it doesn't come to that, however."

However, as she spoke those words, a shinobi leapt over the guards outside, kunai drawn and ready. Before any of them could react, Jigane removed his katana from its sheath and threw it with unerring accuracy, catching the attacker in the chest. Calmly, he walked forward and gave the blade a twist before pulling it out. He met the eyes of both his teammates and his squad leader and gave a deliberate, slow nod. Jigane had no fear of killing.

Only a few more got past the outside guards, but were quickly dispatched. Neither Dakuro nor Touketsu seemed to have much difficulty in bringing themselves to kill, something that both pleased and frightened Karei. At their age, she'd never been forced to go through something of this level. There had been a few missions, sure. But nothing like this.

However, that all changed when the main force arrived. Karei and her students moved back, farther inside of the mansion. Many more would be getting through their forces at the gates, and they didn't feel the genin could handle it fully, though Karei's opinion of them had changed a great deal since they'd started. Their new position lay in the hallways that wound through the mansion like a snake, ambushing intruders and relaying orders from the front to the back and vice versa.

Time seemed to pass at an annoyingly slow rate as the four of them waited, hiding, in the shadows of the hallway. Jigane agitatedly played with a kunai: twirling it about his finger, tossing and catching it, seeing how hard he could press before it broke the skin, and other such games. Though he'd had no hand in deciding whether or not he could go on the mission, all of the training in the days prior felt like it was going to waste just sitting here.

Suddenly, their muscles tensed as they heard footsteps rushing down the hallway. "Queen of Shadows! They've requested your assistance at the front!" The runner continued, but Karei had already landed on the ground. He paused before her, repeating the message again.

She nodded to him, and turned her gaze to her three students. "Will you be alright alone? It doesn't look like much is getting back here, but I'm not leaving unless you're certain."

Jigane nodded. "Quite certain, sensei. We'll be fine. Go on." Both Dakuro and Touketsu nodded their assent. "Besides, even if something does get back here, the three of us are more than enough to take it on." Karei nodded to the three, and then vanished, along with the runner. "It's not like anyone is coming down this way, anyway," the Meikou boy added grumpily.

"Why are we even guarding this hallway?" Touketsu asked, sharing the same disposition as Jigane. "There's nothing over this way. I've been all over this place with Mizu. There's virtually nothing back here!" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dakuro scratched his chin in thought. "Perhaps there's something that you don't see? Maybe something's hidden back there?" He paused, trying to find the words he wanted. "I mean, if you can't see it, that means it's either not there, or hidden, right? But they're having us guard this hallway, there'd be a reason, at least I'd hope so."

Touketsu snapped her fingers. "When I was with Mizu, she brought me down here, and asked if I could sense anything. When I told her no, she asked again, as if wanting to be very, very sure. I told her once more that I felt nothing. That seemed to make her happy, somehow, even though I hadn't been able to complete the task at hand."

Jigane looked up. "So does that mean that something's being hidden here? What could possibly be here that's too important to tell us? I mean, we're a part of this too, aren't we?" His eyes immediately turned angry. "Do you think Karei-sensei knows? Do you think that they told her what was back here, but not us?" He pounded a fist into the other hand. "Why would they do that?"

Dakuro closed his eyes, as if trying to see which was not there. "Perhaps...this is all a setup." When the other two looked at him, confusion written on their faces, he held his hands up in defense. "Let me explain. Okay, what do we know of what happened, according to the mission statement given to us by sensei?"

"This building is owned by a rich guy who found out that some thieves were going to rob him. So he hired a bunch of guards to protect him from them." Jigane shrugged. "So what?"

Dakuro frowned. "Well, after that, sensei told us that she was afraid that there were some Sound Ninja mixed in, for revenge against not choosing them to defend against the threat, and instead going elsewhere. But we haven't seen any Sound Ninja or the fellow who owns this place. All its been are thugs, Missing-nin, and samurai."

Touketsu began to nod in sudden understanding. "This entire thing might've just been a setup from the start. All we know is what we were told, but if we were told wrong from the very beginning...then we would've had no way of knowing. Perhaps it's a way to get something from group to another? Hiring these thieves to take it from here, to a nearby town, and just happen to sell it to one of the Sound Ninja, in return for their payment?"

Jigane nodded, the pieces starting to fall into place. "And we're to guard it, since we're the most likely to fail in this endeavor. So when it's taken, the blame is placed lightly upon us, since there was no way of knowing what we'd be up against. Whoever set this up knew what they were doing. Touketsu, can you break the Genjutsu on what's at the end of this hallway?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know, but I can try." She hopped down, and placed her hands together in front of the end of the hallway. "I know that this is false! Kai!" She called, focusing all of her Chakra into it. The wall shifted, changed, and reformed with a doorway at the end. She gently pushed it open, revealing a huge hallway beyond. It was wide enough for the three of them to stand side by side, and have room for another team on each side, and was quite long, as well. At the far end sat another door.

"Nice work, Tou-chan!" Jigane called, leaping down from the rafters. With pure reflex, he turned, and drew one of his swords in a smooth motion, parrying a strike from another. The attack was older than him, perhaps mid-twenties, but was about his size. White hair, spiked upward and backward, stood above a hawk-like gaze. His slim body, which was shrouded with a simple grey kimono, carried with it dangerous intent, and he pushed Jigane backward with a simple movement.

Around the corner came a large samurai, wielding a blade at that as least as big as his slim fellow partner, if not bigger. He was clothed in the same grey garb as his fellow, though the blade was held over one shoulder, instead of in a sheath. "Nice work, kids," he said with a big grin, adjusting the blade on his shoulders. "You've got some brains between ya. More than most of the other ninja here."

The small one regarded his partner with boredom. "Shut your mouth, Isei. Let's just kill them and get what we came for." His blade came out an inch from the sheath with a twitch of his thumb, and he held the hilt with his hand, ready to strike.

The large one, Isei, nodded. "Fine then. We'll do it your way, Onyx. But won't Shingi be angry?"

Onyx said nothing, but his stance, as well as Jigane's, deepened. "He'll catch up," he said with finality, moving forward with unnatural speed, his sword coming out of its sheath even faster, moving with deadly accuracy toward Jigane.


	6. Chapter 6

**[b/Chapter Six**/b

The swordsman was fast. Unnaturally fast. The single sword strike, or so it appeared to Touketsu and Dakuro, was actually three in rapid succession. Jigane shook his arm, trying to return feeling to it after the assault. As he did so, the sword was returned to its sheath, and Onyx, the white-haired one, took up another stance, which Jigane also assumed to be some form of Iaijutsu. The man himself was fast, and using a stance that emphasized speed was something that would be next-to-impossible to guard against. 

But as the sword moved again, Onyx suddenly stopped, as if freezing in time. Jigane cast a glance off to his left and saw Dakuro's hands extended, fingers curved into claws. A quick glance at his eyes told the swordsman that his brother was under the power of the Hagure bloodline. "What...what the hell is this?" Onyx asked, letting go of his sword, which refused to move from its scabbard. "Isei, kill that one," he said, gesturing at Dakuro. 

The large man grinned, stepping forward with his sword easily held in one hand. "Let's see...I think I'll just crush you..." He lifted up his blade, but Jigane was already there, and slashed him once across the chest, earning a spray of blood to arc over the ground. The swordsman landed and turned, leaping out of the way of Isei's attack, which shattered the stone ground. "Hold still, puny man." With a roar of anger, the giant attacked again, swinging his sword in more of a diagonal arc.

Jigane leapt, landing on Isei's arm before slashing at the man's jugular. However, the sword stopped just short of the thick neck, parried by Onyx, whose sword was still in its sheath. The Meikou swordsman slashed at the white-haired fighter, but Onyx deftly flipped backward out of range of Jigane's swords. Isei, by now, had recovered, and grabbed Jigane by the back of his shirt. With a grunt, he hurled the boy against the wall. Hard.

Jigane could feel his shoulder dislocate as he hit the wall, and a cry escaped his lips as he landed upon the ground, holding it in pain. "You bastard!" Jigane roared, standing up and dropping his wakizashi, wielding only the katana. "Prepare to die!" Before the swordsman hadn't really been aiming to kill. His movements indicated as such, but his intent was only to harm. Now he knew that if he didn't kill these two, they were going to kill him.

Touketsu unleashed a torrent of ice jutsu at Onyx, and even though his movements were being stilled by Dakuro, the lightweight warrior managed to weave in and out of the way of the projectiles. Angered, the girl crafted a sword from ice, and moved toward him, intent on bringing him to justice. Yet her attacks were parried easily, Onyx using the sheath as a defense against them. "Dakuro, can't you do something?" she called, after catching the end of the sheath across her jaw.

Dakuro shook his head. "I'm doing what I can to hold the sword in the sheath. If I tried to concentrate elsewhere, he might be able to draw it, and with his speed, that could spell death for all of us." Even though he said this, he tried to reduce the amount of his power that was going to the sword, and tried to hold the sheath still. However, Onyx quickly realized the change in power and drew his sword nearly halfway out before Dakuro put a stop to it, forcing the weapon back into its sheath. 

Jigane leapt at Isei, swinging his sword in a single, powerful arc. The big man moved quickly for one his size, interrupting the strike with his own massive blade. Cursing, Jigane leapt backward, and realized that they were outmatched. For the first time, they were put up against opponents they probably couldn't beat through skill alone. It was hard to admit, and yet it almost seemed strangely fitting. Normally, samurai weren't this powerful. But there was something unique about these two that made them seem...more than just mere samurai. 

Jigane's eyes widened as he remembered the conversation he'd had with Karei-sensei the night before. There were three Samurai leading the ninja. And there were these two here, plus the third that Isei had mentioned, Shingi. The fact that the genin were able to keep them at bay was impressive, but he doubted that they'd be able to defeat them, especially if their third came along. He swore softly under his breath as Isei struck again, creating a large hole in the wall as the blade shattered where Jigane was just standing.

"What's the matter, small fry? Can't take it?" Jigane only glared in response, darting out of the way of the strike before retaliating, opening a small slash wound on Isei's leg. The large man just chuckled at the pain, which frightened Jigane. The blade came crashing down, and he knew that he had no chance of parrying such a monumental attack, definitely with only having a single arm to work with. The blade came to a halt just short of Jigane's skull however, and a big grin split Isei's face. "Got you, you twerp," he said, though his voice sounded subdued.

"Isei, you fool! You've fallen into an illusion!" Onyx cursed and leapt up to Isei's shoulder, using the sheath to slam into the side of his partner's face. By now, Jigane had managed to get around behind the giant, and slashed outward with his katana, hoping to hamstring him. But again, Onyx's sheath was there, catching the blow before it landed, and the slim samurai slammed the hilt of his blade into the young Meikou's stomach. "You little fool," the speed demon whispered, looking down at Jigane with a gaze full of disgust and hatred. Needles from Touketsu came flying in, but Onyx parried them with the hilt as if they didn't matter. "As I cannot use my sword," he muttered, releasing the sheath and taking up a fairly simple, but dangerous, hand-to-hand stance.

However, he was unable to get further then that as one of the needles, which had landed behind him, suddenly darted forward. A grunt of pain from Isei caused Onyx's attention to turn to the larger man, who had a senbon sticking from his hand, drilled all the way through. "You're the fool," Jigane said, and swung his katana overhand, moving to simply slice through the bastard. The incarnate of speed turned and clapped his hands together, catching the sword in a blade grasp. "I'll repeat. Fool." As he said this, the blade seemingly separated where Onyx's hands could no longer catch it and the blade lengthened, becoming thinner as it descended, and sliced cleanly through the Samurai's eye.

Onyx howled in pain, and Isei stepped forward, swinging his over-sized weapon at Jigane, who was still recovering from the swing. A storm of needles from Touketsu his his throat, and his eyes went wide. The large man took a step backward, blinking in shock and pain, as something had actually harmed him for once. "O-Onyx..." he gurgled, blood coming from both the wounds at his neck and from the corners of his mouth. The white-haired man said nothing, holding a hand over his eye, glaring at Jigane with the other.

"What's the matter with you two? Can't even take on a couple of kids?" The voice came from the entrance to the hallway, and everyone turned to see a man in his late twenties moving forward with an easy gait, his hands resting lightly on the hilts of two swords. Jigane's eyes widened as he recognized that the man was a dual-wielder, just like he was. "I guess I'll just take care of them for you. Take a seat, you two," he said, and drew both swords. He held them upside-down, so the blades extended downward. Onyx and Isei stepped backward, content to let this one, their apparent leader, do the fighting for them.

"Fine, Shingi, but don't let them survive." The words came from Onyx, who had removed his hand, letting Jigane see that the cut only had touched the flesh on his eyelids; it hadn't actually cut into his optical orb, which was a shame. "And watch out for the one in the cloak," he commented, nodding toward Dakuro. "His kekkai genkai lets him control metal, it seems." The man, Shingi, nodded, and brought both blades up in front of his chest, before darting forward at Jigane, who was still up front.

His katana was still broken, and his wakizashi lay elsewhere, leaving him virtually defenseless against the attacks. The one known as Shingi was very skilled, and his attacks came from so many different angles and directions that the young swordsman couldn't defend against them all, and more than one slipped past his guard, slicing open his flesh. "Dakuro!" he called, hoping that his brother could do something to assist him.

The young man frowned. "There's nothing I can do, Jigane. His weapons either aren't made of metal, or they're made of some kind that I can't control." 

As he said this, Shingi turned aside Jigane's katana and sliced open his side, causing a spray of blood to elicit from the wound. A foot collided with the elder twin's chest, and Jigane was sent sprawling to the ground, the sword clattering from his fingertips. The leader of the samurai stood over Jigane, smirking. "You're not bad, kid. But maybe you should think before you fight someone out of your league, eh?" he asked, looking up in time to see Touketsu charging toward him, her arm wrapped in ice again as she attempted to use the weapon against Shingi. With a laugh, he parried her blade and sliced open the back of her leg, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell.

"Touketsu!" Jigane called, trying to force himself to his feet, his hand desperately holding together his damaged body. He wasn't entirely certain why, but the sight of her harmed as she was had caused something inside of him to snap. Holding his coat over his wound, he managed to get his feet underneath of him, and charged at Shingi, though he had no weapon in hand. He had to do something, anything. However, the samurai slashed fiercely with the blade held in his left hand, and Jigane was barely able to bring up his shoulder to take the blow, rather than his throat. The blade bit into him, and he was sent back to the ground, blood leaking from his many wounds.

Dakuro stood, wide-eyed as he saw the fallen forms of his brother and Touketsu. He took a step backward, away from the samurai who had bested two ninja with ease, when Shingi looked at him, a smile on his face. "N-no..." Dakuro whispered, unwarranted tears springing to his eyes. There was very little that he could do, and if Jigane couldn't beat this guy, then how was he expected to? He sank to his knees as the man approached, the lump in his throat growing painfully larger by the second. Closing his eyes, he bowed his head, waiting for the end to come. They had failed, and now they would die by this man's hand.

"What...the hell?" 

Dakuro heard the voice, but wasn't entirely sure what it was referring to. Taking a chance, he opened one eye, and saw a shadowy creature almost right in front of him. He let out a cry and scrambled backward, though the sinewy monster seemed to take no notice of him. It was wolf-like in appearance, though two, shadowy horns emerged from its skull, and he could see fire barely-contained behind its fangs. It took a step forward and growled at the samurai, flames rolling off from its teeth as it tried to intimidate them. 

Shingi slashed out with one of his blades and the creature lithely dodged, and exhaled a stream of fire into his chest, causing the simple yukata he wore to catch aflame. Cursing, he cast aside the garment, leaving him virtually naked as he stared the beast down. However, as he decided whether or not to attack it again, one of the enemy shinobi, a young man with a mostly-bandaged face, paused in the hallway. "We're retreating!" he called before continuing his flight towards the entrance, leaving the three samurai in a state of momentary confusion. 

Then, with a grunt, Shingi sheathed his blades and took a step backward. Onyx and Isei did as well, though they didn't look happy about it. "You got lucky, kid. I dunno what the hell that thing is, but you'd better thank all the gods you know that it showed up to save your ass," he muttered, then turned, moving at a fairly swift pace back down the hallway. Isei followed quickly, though the lightning-fast samurai fixed them with a glare before he too, turned to follow, catching up with his fellows in virtually no time at all. 

The shape of the shadow-wolf twisted and stood as the shadows that were gathered around it began to fade. Dakuro watched, with a fairly amazed expression, as his teacher, Karei-sensei, emerged from the shadowy wrappings, and stood before him. "It looks like I arrived just in time," she said softly, looking over at Jigane and Touketsu with a worried look on her face. "Come, let's get them to the infirmary," she said, gently lifting the girl from Mist. Dakuro lifted his twin, and followed Karei in silence as she moved down the corridor. 

He was ashamed at himself, for his fear, and his inability to help his teammates. His chakra was nearly depleted from holding both Onyx and Isei at bay for so long, and when Shingi had shown up, he couldn't do much of anything to stop him. His head hung low. His allies were counting on him, they needed him to help, but he hadn't been able to do anything for them. And now they were both badly injured, all because he didn't have the strength to do what was needed. "I'm...I'm sorry, Karei-sensei," he said softly, the unwarranted tears beginning to show up again.

She turned back to him, confusion flooding her features. "What are you apologizing for, Dakuro-kun?" she asked softly, looking as if she truly did not know what he was talking about. "You, Jigane, and Touketsu did very well in holding them off until I could come to help you. I don't understand what happened that has prompted you to apologize in such a way..." she said, trailing off.

"I couldn't help them," he responded, and he closed his eyes to stop the tears, but it only caused them to fall faster. "They needed my help and I couldn't...I couldn't anything. So now they're both injured because of me..." he trailed off, doing his best to keep a stoic face and a firm voice, despite the tears that were running down his cheeks. "I wanted to help them, I did...but I was just scared, and I couldn't think straight..." His words were starting to crack a little as the entered the infirmary, which was just a quick location setup by the other shinobi to do emergency medical attention. 

Karei set down Touketsu, then helped Dakuro with Jigane. The two lay upon the beds, and were quickly taken care of by the self-appointed medic-nins. Karei turned to Dakuro, and pulled him from the room, leading him a short distance from it. She then knelt before him and did something that he did not expect as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "No, Dakuro. It is I who should be apologizing. You and the others should not have been forced to do this, especially not at your age. I accepted the mission without thinking of the three of you, and for that, I am truly sorry," she whispered, and Dakuro could feel wetness on his back. Karei-sensei, the one who had stressed emotionless time and time again, was crying. 


End file.
